Why do people who would never use Google to decide that they knew morethan their lawyer or architect decide that they know better than theirphysicians?

BY CATHERINE D'AMICO, FREELANCEOCTOBER 28, 2009

I am a family physician and I am going to get my H1N1 flu shot and soare my children. I hope that my fellow Canadians will too.

Based on what occurred in the Southern Hemisphere during their winterthis year, it is expected that about 80 per cent or more of theinfluenza virus circulating this year will be H1N1 and about 20 percent seasonal flu.

There is a lot of misinformation being passed from person to personabout the flu vaccine. And unfortunately many are simply acceptingwhat they hear as fact.

Why do people who would never use Google, or the opinions of friendsand colleagues, to decide that they knew more than their lawyer,engineer, or architect, decide that they know better than theirphysicians? Or the PhDs in immunology and microbiology and publichealth staff who research these issues for months or years, and havethe scientific background to be able to evaluate the research andsafety data?

How could all the scientists, physicians, and governments in everyprovince and country who are all looking at the data and recommendingvaccination be wrong?

Here are the facts: The seasonal flu vaccine and H1N1 vaccine arecalled subunit vaccines which do not introduce live or whole flu virusinto the body. The flu vaccine delivers a minute quantity of asterilized, purified portion of the influenza virus into the body. Theimmune system is then stimulated to respond and in about two weeksthis results in immunity.

When someone gets the actual flu, they have had whole live influenzavirus enter their body through their nose or mouth. The influenzavirus attaches to the nasopharynx cells, then enters and reproduceswithin them. Millions and millions of live viruses are then released,teeming throughout the person's body and bloodstream. This is anoverwhelming attack and as the battle ensues and the immune systemfights, the temperature rises, the body fatigues, and the symptoms ofinfluenza result.

Most cases of H1N1 have been mild, but as we have seen, for some, andsometimes randomly, the battle is severe and death results.

Why would you choose for yourself, or much more importantly for yourchild, to come into contact with the live virus, and submit tomillions and millions of live, replicating viruses circulating fordays and days? Does it not make more sense to instead get a vaccinethat injects a sterilized and killed tiny portion of that same virus?I have chosen this option for my children and for myself (includingduring my pregnancies) for over a decade and have no regrets.

The problem with subunit vaccines is that since they contain only apart of the virus, they often cannot stimulate a complete immuneresponse, especially in those with weak immune systems such as youngchildren, the elderly, or those with chronic diseases. For thatreason, scientists add adjuvants to vaccines. Adjuvants are immune-system stimulators that enhance the response to the vaccine.

The H1N1 vaccine contains an oil-in-water adjuvant called squalene.Squalene is a naturally occurring sterilized oil. Oil-in-wateradjuvants have been studied and approved as safe and are used invarious European vaccines including their flu shots.

Something that really puzzles me is how quickly people will put intotheir own and their children's bodies anything labelled as an immunestimulant if it is sold in a natural-products store. These products donot have long-term safety data, are much less rigorously tested forsafety than vaccines and adjuvants, and claims are often supported byvery poor quality studies that were done by the very companies sellingthe product.

There is a question I am frequently asked: If the nurses, paramedics,and hospital workers are not getting vaccinated, doesn't that suggestthat I should be concerned about getting vaccinated?

It is interesting that the rate of vaccination among health-careworkers is similar to the rate in the general population. The reasonfor this seems to be that health-care workers obtain their informationabout the vaccine and influenza the same way as the general public.They Google, read newspapers, and talk among themselves. There are norequirements for health-care workers to participate in any educationalprograms related to vaccines or influenza.

To protect those at high risk from influenza, whom the vaccine doesnot protect well because of their weak immune response, it isimportant that their caregivers be vaccinated so that they do notinfect them. It is particularly worrying that health-care workerscould infect or kill our most vulnerable by choosing not to bevaccinated. Research indicates that H1N1 is infectious one day beforesymptoms, and up to seven to 10 days afterwards.

H1N1 is now present in our communities and will be spreading quickly.It's time for all of us to come together and protect ourselves and ourfamilies, and help to protect the vulnerable in our community. One wayto do that is to get vaccinated. The vaccine takes two weeks tostimulate immunity, so it's important to be vaccinated as soon aspossible. That's what my family is planning to do.